When you have completed review of this screen, please click the "Next
page" blue arrow for the second portion of this section. The left anterior oblique (LAO) view is
useful in visualizing the ostium and proximal portion of the RCA. The
posterior descending and postero-lateral branches are foreshortened.
Also, their origin and that of the acute marginal branch may be obscured
by overlap. This problem may be circumvented by the application of a
cranial tilt (see LAO/Cranial view). In the Left Anterior Oblique or LAO view, the
camera is rotated along a vertical axis towards the patient's left,
as shown at the bottom of the page. Please note that the ventricular
septum lies in a plane between the right shoulder and the left nipple.
Thus, in the LAO view, the camera "looks" at the edge of the septum.
The atrio-ventricular plane is seen as an outline, since it sits roughly
at right angles to the ventricular septum.